That Final Piece of Light
by Psyrenelle
Summary: After the Mark of Mastery exam, Sora swore to help find the lost Keyblade bearers. But with the newly developed Organization XIII still a dark shadow looming over the heroes of light, they realize that they are sorely outnumbered. Then a transfer student arrives on the island the same week that the stars start falling out of the sky again, bearing an aura of Aqua. SoKai Ri/OC
1. Chapter 1

_BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP!_

Sora awoke with a shout and tossed in his bed, startled. He glared at the blaring angry alarm clock that sat on his bedside table with flustered sapphire blue eyes as it read 7:30 in bold red letters. He slapped the snooze button with so much excessive force that it bounced off the stand and onto the floor. The boy rubbed his hand into his face as he groaned. Then he heard a loud knock at his bedroom door.

"Sora, Riku's waiting for you downstairs! You're going to be late!" he heard a woman say. With a groan, the boy had begun to rise from his bed, but his feet, which were entangled in his blankets, resulted in his downfall. He tumbled from the bed, feet still remaining betwixt the blankety madness as his upper body met the floor. Sora groaned and huffed loudly. As he begun to untangle his feet he heard another knock. "Sora, are you awake?"

He made quick work of the blankets and flew to the door, opening it. A middle aged woman with light brown hair tied into a ponytail and dark blue eyes stood exasperated. She sighed and stepped to the side. "You may want to hurry." she warned as she nodded to the clock. Sora turned and stared at the clock that now found refuge in a pile of shirts on the floor. It read 7:43 in bold red numbers. With a gasp, he pushed past his mother and quickly ran to the bathroom. He opened the medicine cabinet and pulled out a blue tube of toothpaste and his matching blue toothbrush. He poured a good amount on the toothbrush and began to brush.

"Sowwy mahm. Ah reawwy did trah to leep bu ah cou'nt!" Sora yelled from the bathroom as he quickly brushed his teeth.

The woman chuckled as she strolled downstairs. "This is why you shouldn't pull all-nighters on your studies." The boy finished in the bathroom, placing everything back where it belonged. Then he ran back to his messy room to quickly change into his uniform. He found a gray muscle shirt first and put it on. Then he found a clean white short sleeved button down shirt and threw it on. After that, he rummaged around for his sky blue plaid slacks, which he found in the corner of his room. Sliding them on, he fastened his belt, grabbed his tie off of his desk and flew out of his room with his black school bag and crown necklace in hand. He ran down the stairs into the kitchen and stopped at the table, grabbing a piece of toast and quickly sprinting to the living room. He draped his tie around his neck as he slipped his black sneakers on and ran out the door. He would've kept running if he didn't hear a metallic clink on the ground. As he turned to pick it up, he watched as a hand grabbed it for him. Sora actually took the time to slow down as he watched the boy. The male in question was about two inches taller than himself with short shoulder length silver hair that spiked out slightly, the evidence that his hair had been cut recently. He wore the same uniform as himself; a white short sleeve button down shirt, of which was untucked, with a sky blue plaid tie. His slacks matched his tie and his shoes were generic black sneakers. His bag was the same black Destiny Island High School bag that they received during orientation. He wore a simple silver wristwatch on his left wrist that gleamed slightly. Aquamarine eyes met deep sapphire as the boy held out his hand, Sora's crown necklace inside.

"You may want to keep an eye on your stuff, Dummy." the boy childed. Sora huffed with toast in his mouth and grabbed it from him. He scarfed it down and fastened the necklace around his neck.

"You don't have to be a dick about it, Riku." Sora pouted. Riku chuckled and patted the boy's unruly dirty blonde spikes as he stepped off of the porch.

"It's my personal mission to antagonize you early in the morning." he said back. "Hurry up or we're gonna be late." The blonde rolled his eyes and followed behind him. He wiped his mouth from any remaining breadcrumbs and stared at the sky. It wasn't a bright sunny day like it normally was on the islands. There were plenty of semi dark clouds in the sky that was enough to make any person grab an umbrella. These clouds looked completely ominous. "So, Sora, enlighten me. Your mom said that you were up all night studying. What exactly were you studying?" Riku smirked.

Sora snapped out of his thoughts and sped up to the silverettes side. He had begun tying his tie slowly so he could do it correctly. "You know damn well that I don't know how to study. It's just an excuse I use when I can't sleep so she doesn't bug out."

Riku nodded. "Riiiiiight. So what was it, really?"

"Well...I saw another star fall last night." he answered honestly. He finished tying his tie and was now staring at the silverette. Riku's playtime smile immediately disappeared.

"Where?"

"At the island." Sora said, pointing towards the beach. "I went to go check it out." Riku sighed.

"Really, Sora. I thought we agreed on this. No checking out stars without us. We have cellphones for a reason."

"I know, I know. But something didn't seem right with this one and it was late. I didn't want to bother you guys…" Sora pouted.

"You know for a fact that we don't care, dude. So that's no excuse." the silverette said. "If you find another star, call us immediately."

Sora pouted. "...Alright."

Riku stared into the morning sky, admiring the dark clouds. "After all…" Sora glanced up at his friend with cautious eyes. "If you somehow get separated from us, Kairi would drop everything to go searching for you, no matter the risk."

Sora pondered the boy's words for a moment as he walked slower. "That would definitely be a problem. She doesn't have enough training with the keyblade…hey, wait a minute! You said Kairi would go looking for me. Does that mean you won't?! What would you do?" he shouted as he stopped in realization. Riku unleashed a hearty laugh from his belly as he continued walking to the school. He glanced at his watch and his laughing stopped, his eyes widening.

"Oh shit, the time!" He said. He glanced back at Sora. "We only have five minutes."

Sora's own sapphire blue eyes widened as he flew past the boy. Riku blinked as he stared at his friend.

 _'Since when could he run that fast?'_ he pondered.

Sora turned to the boy a few feet been behind him. "HURRY UP! YOU SAID WE ONLY HAVE FIVE MINUTES!"

Riku smirked and walked up to his friend's side. "Why don't we make it a race, for old time's sake?" Sora's brow furrowed at his proposition. "If I win, you have to train with me after school for a whole month. From 4:15 until 9:30. No timeouts. 1 break."

Sora's eyes widened for the second time that day but then closed as he thought. When he reopened them a moment later, he held a fiery determination. "Alright, but if I win, you have answer my question from earlier. What would you do if I suddenly went missing?"

Riku nodded. "Alright."

They both bursted through the door of the classroom, huffing and panting heavily. Sweat dripped from their foreheads as Sora dropped to his knees on the floor, his bag by his side.

"So...who...won?" Sora panted. Riku shook his head and stood up straight from his hunched over state.

"I...wasn't...looking..." Sora huffed as he stood up and rolled his shoulder. A hand clasped onto his right shoulder, making him jump. He turned his head to another boy in uniform. His spiky blonde hair nearly covered blue eyes that held deep bags underneath as he stared at Sora.

"H-hey man…"

"Holy shit, Tidus. What happened to you?" Sora gasped.

"T-tell me you did the h-homework…" Tidus stuttered as he released his friend.

Sora chuckled sheepishly. "Sorry dude...I didn't do it either..."

The boy then looked back to Riku. "H-hey Riku…?"

"Don't ask me." he childed. Tidus dropped his head in defeat and stumbled back to his seat. Riku stared at Sora.

"... What's his deal?" Riku asked. Sora shook his head.

"I don't even know…"

"Sora! Riku!"

The boys both looked towards the classroom to the voice. A girl with shoulder length light brown hair that flipped outwards dashed over to them from across the room, her bright green eyes shining with excitement. Her uniform was the same as the boys with the exception of the skirt, of which was the same sky blue color and stopped two inches from her knees. Her footwear consisted of black knee high socks and the standard white school slippers. She latched onto Riku's arm with a grand smile.

"Morning you guys!"

"Good morning to you too, Selphie." Riku nodded. Sora smiled and waved back.

"Hey do you know what's wrong with Tidus?" Sora asked. The bubbly brunette nodded.

"He was slacking off for quite some time, and the blitzball coach is on his ass about it. He said that his grades doesn't show any improvement in the next week that he'll be cut from the team." she said quickly.

Both Riku and Sora nodded their heads. "I get it now.." the silverette concluded.

"On a different note, oh my god! You both just HAD to have heard the rumors! Please tell me you heard them?! Did you hear? Didja? DIDJA?" the girl screeched. Sora scratched his head as he shared confused stares with Riku.

"Um...no? We just got here." Riku sighed.

"WE'RE GETTING A TRANSFER STUDENT!" she squealed happily. They both blinked in surprise.

"A transfer? In the middle of the year?" Sora asked.

"YEAH! THAT'S WHAT I SAID!" she said, gripping the boy's arm harder. Riku jerked slightly. He was about to say something to the overly jubilant brunette when he saw another girl approach them. She was the same height as Selphie but had bright sea blue eyes and shoulder length auburn hair. "Ah! There you are, Kairi! Tell me, did you-"

"Hear the rumors? I did." she said calmly, smiling at the girl. Then she looked to the boys. "Morning."

"Morning Kairi." Sora said with a smile.

"Morning. Hey, do you mind?" Riku muttered as he pointed to the girl on his arm.

Kairi sighed and she pried the excited girl's hands off of her friend. "OK, Sel. Calm down."

"Who is it?" Riku asked, massaging his arm. Kairi shrugged her shoulders.

"No one knows. Their name wasn't even added to the roster yet. It'll be a surprise for all of us." she finished. Just before either boy could ask another question, the classroom door slid open with a dark brown haired male teacher in a navy colored suit entering. His name tag read Mr. Obari.

"Alright settle down in your seats. I'm taking attendance." the man said. The group by the main door split up into their own individual seats along with the rest of the class and stood in front of their chairs. Mr. Obari bowed to the class as the class bowed back to him, after which all the students sat down. The man then cleared his throat as he ran through the names on the attendance sheet. "Alright. Good morning, everyone. Allistar Tidus." A meek "here" was said as he raised his hand. The man shook his head. "Harada Riku."

"Here." Riku responded.

"Kahlua Wakka."

"I'm here, ya." The redhead said. The man continued to go through the roster of students one by one, stopping when he reached Kairi.

"Tachibana Kairi."

"Here." The girl quietly said. She waved a bit to get the man's attention. When he nodded, she stopped and put her hand down.

"Tilmitt Selphie."

"HERE!" she squealed. The entire class flinched from her high pitched voice.

"Sekihara Yuri."

The bluenette didn't say anything. He raised his hand for a few seconds then quickly put it down. Mr. Obari quickly saw and marked him down.

"And Yamamoto Sora."

"Here." The boy said lazily. With the attendance done, closed his grade book and placed it in his bag. Then he leaned forward on his podium.

"Alright. Now you all probably heard this already from the rumors being spread, but we do have a transfer student starting today." he said. The entire class erupted into murmurs and whispers as he continued. Selphie glanced at Kairi with a huge smile. "I expect you all to show her the great hospitality we islanders hold." As he finished his sentence, a knock was heard at the door. "Come in."

The whispers had stopped as soon as the door opened. A girl stepped through and closed the door behind her, then strolled up to the side of the teacher's podium. All eyes were on the girl as she stood next to the teacher. Riku watched the new girl with a slightly bewildered gaze. From his seat at the back of the room, he could tell that she stood at Kairi's height, possibly a bit shorter, with long black hair that had streaks of cobalt blue. The blue color also was dyed on the tips of the bangs that framed her face. Her forest green eyes complemented her porcelain colored skin nicely. Her body shape was very healthy, with no flab or scars to mar her body. The girl was like a porcelain doll...

And she was staring right at him- almost glaring even. It was like a test to see who would look away first.

Suddenly, the boy felt weak. His head had begun to throb and his vision blurred, with small white patches developing in his sight. He gripped his head in his right hand. As his vision swirled around, he saw a woman with short choppy dark blue hair like his own silver hair standing in the place of the girl that glared him down. She smiled at him and then disappeared, leaving him even more confused. Selphie glanced back to Riku but her smile faded when she saw him. She tapped on Kairi's shoulder and gestured her look back. When she did, her expression matched the girl next to her.

' _What's wrong with him…?'_ she asked herself.

"Please introduce yourself to the class." Mr. Obari spoke. When they heard the man, the girls' attention returned to the front.

"Gessekai Tarin. Please take care of me this year." she said as she bowed, strands of her hair slipping off of her shoulders. Her voice was soothing and calm as she spoke. As she stood back up correctly, she scanned the students, her gaze ultimately landing on Sora. The boy smiled softly and waved, but the girl simply blinked and looked away.

"Now all that's left is to find you a seat." he said as he glanced over his roster. "Hmm...there's an empty seat right next to Tidus Allistar. Mr. Allistar, would you please raise your hand?" The boy's hand and head shot up. Tarin stared a moment at the boy before she moved. Then she quickly and gracefully strolled to her seat and sat down, retrieving her book she needed from her bag and placing them on her desk. She found that her desk was in a rather good condition. It wasn't rickety nor vandalized with writing, gum, or doodles, which was a relief. She scanned the room again from her seat. To her right was a desk that the "Tidus Allistar" guy sat at and then a row of windows looking inwards to the hallway. To the right of her in the back and front corner of the room were the doors. She was already planning her escape.

"Turn to page 394 in your literature textbooks."

The class did as they were told and the lesson began. Tarin slipped a strand of hair behind her ear and nibbled on the tip of her pen. She wasn't focused on the lesson, or rather she couldn't focus, what with the entire class practically ignoring the lesson that was given and watching her every move. Some of the boys were throwing notes her way trying to get her attention while the girls glared at her for no particular reason other than to glare. Kairi, who was two desks to the left of her, glanced over to Tarin every so often. Sora's seat was closer to the front of the room, so he could only look when the teacher was facing the board. Tidus spent the entire period staring at her while Selphie, just a desk left of Kairi, was fidgeting in her seat, eager to get a look. Wakka, sitting a desk in front of the bubbling brunette, was nonchalant about stealing peeks. Riku, however ignored her altogether. Once their eyes met before the start of class, the boy felt that something was sketchy about her.

When lunchtime came around and Mr. Obari left the room, Tarin was surrounded by students left and right, asking questions as curious people do. Many of them asked questions about her previous home, to which she answered easily.

"I lived on the mainland." she memorized.

However some of the girls in the class asked more personal questions; most along the lines of provocative.

"Do you have a boyfriend?"

"Are you a virgin?"

"Would you consider yourself easy?"

One girl asked to touch her hair, something she immediately disapproved of. Tarin was up to her neck in people and couldn't get out. Suddenly, she heard a girl yell loudly towards the front of the room. All Tarin could see was a sliver of red hair behind the horde of her classmates. When their attention was disrupted by the "red girl", she used the opportunity to excuse herself to go to the bathroom. She stood and walked around the group, smiling fakely and brightly as possible. Once she opened the door and closed it behind her. She made a run for it. She ran down the stairs to the lobby, only to find that another group of students were looking to interview her as well; a school paper from what she heard. Before they could notice her, she ran back up to the second floor. Gripping her chest, Tarin quickly made her way up to the roof of the school, opening the door and breathing in much needed fresh air. She walked over to the gated railing and stared over the island. It was surprisingly dark for 11:30 in the morning, the clouds growing darker by the minute. The girl would've imagined that it was about to rain, and if it was, she certainly didn't have an umbrella. She inhaled a moment's worth of air then released back into the atmosphere.

"Moving to this off kelter island was a mistake." she muttered to herself. "It's all way too much to handle..." She slipped a thicker strand of hair behind her ear and sighed. She relaxed quite a bit before she heard the door to the roof open and close. The sound caused her to stiffen up again. Did other students follow her up to the roof? Or did that select group of students chase after her? She inwardly groaned, hoping that no one would bother her. And yet she heard footsteps approaching her.

"Um...hey, are you alright?" A girl's voice called.

Tarin groaned again spun around on her heels. "What do you want?" she barked. The trio flinched.

Kairi watched the girl carefully. The blackette was in fact very pretty. Kairi could compare her to a TV idol from her stance alone.

Tarin stared back at the trio. The dirty blonde boy that she saw in class smiled softly at her as did the girl. The most noticeable thing on her was her deep auburn shoulder length hair. And the last boy, who was taller than both of them had silver hair and the brightest aquamarine eyes she had ever seen. She remembered those eyes. She had glared them down last period. And those eyes cautiously watched her.

"No need to be angry. We just came to see if you were alright." The blonde said softly. He scratched the back of his neck sheepishly.

Tarin raised a brow at his words. "What...? Why would you do that?"

Kairi moved a step closer and gave the girl a genuine smile. "We were worried that the class had interrogated you a bit too much. This island never gets any transfer students so you're basically the new toy that everyone wants to play with."

"So? What's your point?" Tarin frowned.

"We thought a friendly presence would help you feel more relaxed." Kairi continued.

Tarin remained unimpressed with the trio. "And yet it has the completely opposite effect..."

Kairi held out her hand. "I'm Tachibana Kairi. And these are my closest friends." She pointed to the blonde. "This is Yamamoto Sora." The boy waved. Then she pointed to the taller boy. "And this is Harada Riku. You're more than welcome to sit with us at lunch. My friends and I aren't the touchy type. We know how to keep our hands to ourselves."

Tarin said with a sigh. "Look...I think it's sweet that you decided to check on me and invite me into your little group. But I REALLY would like to be left alone. I don't want to be bothered." The blackette's glare had softened up ever so slightly. But a skeptical frown remained right where it was.

Kairi's face darkened just a bit as her she dropped her hand. "Oh... Alright. I see. Well, if you change your mind-"

"Doubt it." Tarin cut her off. She sidestepped the group, then quickly walked to the door of the roof and opened it, walking through. When the door closed, Kairi sighed and blew her bright red hair out of her eyes.

"Well that was like pulling teeth..." she sighed. Sora nodded and Riku glanced back at the door.

"Yeah it was...are you sure she was suspicious, Riku? She just seemed like a really annoyed girl on her first day at a new school." Sora asked the boy.

Riku nodded. "Yes, I'm absolutely sure. Something isn't right with her. When I first saw her, she glared at me for no reason. And the moment she did, something happened. It was like she was trying to hurt me somehow. But then I saw a woman with blue hair."

"Blue hair?" Sora asked. Riku nodded again.

"Wait! Was it short blue hair?" Kairi asked. Another nod from the teen. "I think I know who you're talking about! You mean Aqua!"

"Aqua?" Both boys said in unison. They both looked at each other with very confused stares.

"That's her name. I remember back when I lived back in Radiant Gardens as a small child, maybe four or five, she saved me from a group of heartless." Kairi smiled softly. "She told me that I was very special and...that whenever I'm in trouble, the light will always protect me."

Riku smiled softly. "She told you that, huh?"

Kairi nodded and giggled. "Yeah. She was very sweet. And really strong. She even had a keyblade."

"But that just begs the question..." Sora pondered aloud. Both teens' attention were recaptured by the blonde. "Why would you hallucinate and see Aqua when you looked at Gessekai-san? And why didn't that happen to us when she looked at us?"

"Good question."Riku sighed. "I say we find out what we can about her. Hell, it might help you if you decide to go on your mission." Riku said, looking at the unsure blonde. "If even a small detail might help you free them, you'll take it wouldn't you?"

Sora thought for a moment then looked up, facing his friends. "Alright. Just as long as we don't force her." Riku however shook his head.

"Sora, you realize that if time's running out, then we have to."


	2. Chapter 2

Tarin sighed. Even though she left the group only moments ago, she remained behind the door at the top of the stairs, listening to Sora and his friends. Through the thick door, she heard the blonde agree with them to investigate her.

 _"Alright. Just as long as we don't force her."_

When she heard that the teens' chattering was moving closer to the door, Tarin quickly ran down the stairs and back to the second floor Instead of attempting to leave the school, she walked back into the classroom, where the horde of her classmates sat and patiently waited for her. When the door closed behind her, they all smiled and ran to her, eager to ask more questions. She sighed.

"This is gonna be my whole day, isn't it?" She muttered.

When the afternoon finally came around, school was over. Tarin placed her books into her black schoolbag quietly as she listened to the chattering of students left and right. They spoke of hanging out, after school activities, and other things that she couldn't care about. She stood up and quietly, after tucking in her chair, walked out of the room. She pushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear as she walked down the stairs. As she reached the last step, a memory flashed through her mind.

 _A middle aged woman sat in the passenger side of the black Hyundai Elantra, while a man just about her age sat on the driver's side. The woman looked through her side mirror and smiled into to the backseat where Tarin sat._

 _"Sweetheart, are you alright?" The woman asked softly. The girl looked forward into the mirror with a soft smile._

 _"Yeah, I'm alright Mom. Just a bit tired." She responded quietly. The woman leaned back into her seat._

 _"Are you excited to start your first day here? I know it's not like the mainland, but it is a lot calmer, I've heard."_

 _"Mom...I'm not a kid anymore. I don't get so excited like I used to." She answered back._

 _The woman chuckled slightly. "Well you should be. You skipped a grade. That doesn't happen often."_

 _The man in this driver's seat smiled into his rearview mirror at his daughter. "And at fifteen, too."_

 _"Dad, a lot of kids skip grades. I don't see your point."_

 _The man chuckled as he moved his attention back to the road. "All I'm saying is that you should take advantage of this." He made a left turn and parked the car at the bottom of a hill. Tarin looked up the hill to see a huge building sitting at the top; the bright blue sign at the entrance reading Destiny Island High School._

 _"Oh honey, why don't you drive a little closer so she doesn't have to walk up this monstrosity?" The woman frowned._

 _Tarin grabbed her bag and opened the car door, stepping out. Closing it behind her, she walked up to the passengers side. "It's alright. I can walk. It'll be my exercise for the day."_

 _"Oh but are you sure, Tarin?" The woman asked. Her concern was evident in her face. The girl nodded and smiled._

 _"Yup. You both need to go to work anyways, or you'll be late."_

 _The man gasped suddenly. "Ah yes, I forgot to tell you. There might be a chance that we'll have to stay at work late tonight because we're new to this branch. So you'll have to walk home after school. I would prefer if you ask one of your classmates to show you where to go in case you get lost." He handed her a spare silver key._

"...Shit." Tarin muttered. It was bad enough that she didn't completely know the island. But to make matters worse, she wasn't paying attention that morning as they drove in the car. Tarin quickly moved to the her shoe locker and switched out her school slippers for her dark blue high top Converse sneakers. She laced them up and walked out the door. With a healthy breath of fresh air, she started for the bottom of the hill and began to retrace her steps.

"So what's the plan for today?" Kairi chuckled. Sora stretched out as Riku walked beside him. They had left the school an hour after their cleaning assignments were done.

"I believe this idiot owes me some training time." Riku chuckled. Sora's eyes widened as he turned to the boy.

"Wait! No, that's bullshit! You said that you weren't even paying attention this morning. That, in no way, was a win!" The boy shouted.

Kairi walked beside them very confused, but then shrugged it off. "So...back to my house?" The boys' attention were pulled back to the girl. Riku shrugged as Sora pouted. "I'll take that as a yes, Sora?"

"Yeah..." he muttered.

"OK. Then you can tell us about this falling star you saw." she added. The boys gasped lightly as she reminded them.

"Good point. I almost forgot about that." Riku said.

As they finished making their plans, they walked through the neighborhood, watching children as they ran around the town. The elementary school that was down the street from the high school was empty; the children playing on the playground equipment instead. They continued to walk and a block before Mayor's house, they stopped. Kairi turned around towards the playground.

"Kairi, what's wrong?" Sora asked her, raising concern.

"Isn't that Gessekai-san?" she asked as she pointed. The boys followed her finger. Sure enough, there was the teenage girl sitting on a parkside bench with black and blue hair. The girl in question sighed as she stared at her lap, her school bag sitting neatly on top. Sora tilted his head to the side, confused.

"Could she be lost?" Sora asked.

"Possibly." Kairi answered. "Why don't we help her?" She walked over to her and stood to the right side of her. "Gessekai-san?"

Tarin was so preoccupied with the object in her lap that she didn't even notice the group next to her. She flinched and looked up to them.

 _'Red hair...oh Christ.'_ Tarin cursed mentally.

"You three again...what do you want?" she groaned.

"Well, we noticed that you sitting here alone and thought that you might need help or something." the redhead admitted. The face Tarin held was stoic at best. " _Do_ you need help?"

"No, I don't. I thought I said to leave me alone." Tarin sneered. A frown fell upon the redhead's face.

"Yeah, but..." the girl trailed off as Riku tapped on her shoulder.

"She doesn't want help. Let's go, we don't have time for this." he groaned.

That deep voice caught the blackette completely off guard. It's subtleties set butterflies in the girl's stomach and she felt a warmth slap her in the face as she gazed at the source.

 _'The boy...from class? He sounds like that?'_ she asked herself. She watched as they had slowly begun to walk away. _'You know if they leave, you'll never find your way home, right?'_

"Wait!"

The trio turned around and stared back at the girl. She opened her mouth to speak but stopped before she could get words out. She hesitated to talk as her forest green eyes bore into deep blues and greens of the group.

 _'Stupid! Can you even trust them? They could hurt you!'_ the girl's mind screamed.

Riku's frown darkened. "Look, either you want help, or you don't. Which is it?" he sighed. His voice was encircled by annoyance as he glared at the girl. Tarin's face was heating up from embarrassment, her cheeks tinged with pink.

"Can...you tell me where Schenect street is?" she asked. Sora's brow furrowed as he thought.

"Schenect? That's another three blocks up that way." Sora answered, pointing forward. Tarin's forest green eyes followed his finger.

"How can this island be so small and yet still so big...?" she muttered. She leaned into the bench.

"If you want, I can show you where it is." Kairi offered. Tarin watched her carefully. The redhead was smiling so brightly, almost as though she got off by helping people. It was sickening.

"I'll pass." Tarin answered as she stood up, removing her bag from her lap. "I'll trust what Yamamoto-san said was true. Thanks..." She turned to walk in Sora's pointed direction. As they separated, the group quietly watched her.

"Christ... Indecisive much?" Riku muttered, folding his arms over his chest.

"Did anything happen? Any visions?" Sora asked the redhead. She shook her head.

"None. Are you sure you weren't already hallucinating earlier?" she questioned, turning to face the silver haired boy.

"I'm sure. It wasn't the darkness playing tricks on me. I know what I saw."

"So now what?" Sora pondered aloud.

Schenect street. Tarin read the sign multiple times before she peered around the area. There were beautiful houses dotting the street and a plethora of trees and bushes. Each house had a second floor and a few shrubs sitting on the front lawn. She strolled down Schenect street, staring at houses left and right. Then she stopped at a house that held the numbers 133. The house was a pale baby blue with a newly furnished cherrywood porch. There were a few shrubs by the stairs and a small bonsai tree on a step; a house present from her mother, no doubt. Tarin walked up the stairs, with her key in hand and unlocked the door, walking in. She placed her key in the bowl by the door and closed the door behind her, locking it. She untied her sneakers and took them off, carefully placing them on the shoe rack to the left of the door.

"Alright...now what?" she muttered. With a sigh, the blackette walked up the stairs to the landing. She moved past two closed doors until she reached the third one. Twisting the doorknob and opening the door, she placed her bag on the floor. Her room was very basic, what with a single twin sized bed covered neatly with dark red blankets and pillows, an oakwood bedside table to the right of the bed and a matching dresser across the Tarin. It wasn't the most appealing room, but it was far from what it was before she settled in there. She stalked across the room and tossed herself onto her bed, face first.

 _'Harada Riku...Tachibana Kairi...Yamamoto Sora...'_ Her mind wandered. _'Something is not right about them...but do I want to get involved is the real question...'_

 _'I've met them before...but where?'_

Before long, her eyes slowly closed as she drifted into slumber.

"...ra..."

"SORA!"

The shrill sound easily woke the boy from his mind. As his vision returned, he sat up quickly, realizing that he was on a bed. Sitting opposite from him in a pink office chair was Kairi, watching him carefully with a slightly annoyed expression. Riku, on the other hand, who was sitting next to him, just pinched the bridge of his nose. Sora rubbed his nose with his finger. "Huh? You said something, Kairi?"

She quickly swiveled around and threw a pen at the boy's head. He flinched and rubbed his injury. "Ow! That's friend abuse!"

"Deal with it. We were _trying_ to ask you about that falling star, but you completely zoned out! Please pay attention." Kairi huffed, folding her arms across her chest in exasperation. "Now, explain what happened around the time you saw the star."

Sora twirled the pen in his hand absentmindedly as he stared to the wooden floor. Taking a deep breath, he began. "It was about ten or so when I saw it. I looked out my window and saw it fall; possibly making impact with the smaller island. I went off on my own because I knew you both would be sleeping...though I shouldn't have."

"We'll forgive you just this once." Riku warned. "Do it again, and I'll set black fire under your ass."

Sora gulped and continued. "I'll do my best not to forget. Anyways, when I got to the island, there was no indication that the star had landed; which I thought was weird. I checked all over that island for hours. But then I found this by the star pole in the back..." the brunette trailed off as he stuffed his hand into his pocket, pulling out a shiny Saffron yellow star ornament. It was about the size boy's hand. He held it out to Kairi so she could get a better look. "I thought it was Kairi's because she made one before but then I looked at the material a bit more. Those points aren't shells; it's completely metal. Plus the keychain is thinner."

"You kept it on you all day?" Riku asked, slightly astonished. Sora shrugged.

"Yeah well...I put it my bag when I got back to my house around 3 or so. I wanted to show you guys."

"This one looks like mine..." the girl muttered quietly, swiveling around to pull out her charm from her desk. She held both of them out to the boys so they could view them side by side. "But Sora's right. I've never even seen this charm before."

" _This_ is what fell from the sky?" Riku groaned. He ruffled his hair with his hands. "Then we're back at square one. This is going to be a bitch to figure out..."

"But there is one thing that bothered me..." Sora started. "It's a bit off topic, but transfer student...she was really distant today."

"Distant, my ass. She was straight up rude." Riku huffed. Kairi shook her head.

"I don't think you both understand." she sighed, pulling both boys' attention. "Being natives to the island, you probably didn't have to transfer from one school to another, right?"

"I've known Riku since we were in diapers. We went to the same school and everything."

"Yes, and everyone on the island knows you both. When I came here, you saw how hard it was for me to grow a spine and not get flustered about every little thing. Being a transfer student is really hard normally on the first day. A lot of people are curious about your life and experiences. Sometimes a transfer have to be a bit forceful to get their point across."

"Yeah, I guess you're right...but still..." Sora sighed.

"We'll have to keep an eye on her for now. Something isn't right with her." Riku demanded. Both of his friends nodded in confirmation.

 _'I've met her before...but where?'_

"So I heard from Wakka that you two were racing to school this morning. Who won?" Kairi said, giggling.

"Neither of us did. We weren't even paying attention." Sora pouted. He handed back the redhead's pen as she passed back the unknown star ornament. Sora stuffed it into his bag and clasped it shut, placing on the floor next to his feet.

"Did you both bet on something like last time?"

"Yeah. But we're not telling." the silver haired male smirked. Kairi put her hands to her hips.

"Aww...no fair. You'll tell me right Sora?" Riku glanced over to the blonde next to him.

"Um...well..." Sora started but trailed off. As he stared at the girl in front of him, a gleam caught his eye. He stood and scurried to the window behind her, staring outside.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Riku said, standing up quickly. The girl watched him as she stood up from her own seat.

"Another star..." he muttered. "And it's close..." Sora spun around to face his friends with fiery determination. "We should follow it."


	3. Chapter 3

Tarin awoke to the distinct sound of nothing. Sitting up, she rubbed her eyes and glanced around the room. Everything was just as it was; her door was closed with her bag leaning against it. Her window was closed and locked, with her soft Vermilion curtains covering them. The blackette's attention then was caught by her digital alarm clock; its numbers reading 12:27. She swung her legs over the side of her bed and stood up, walking over to her window. She pulled back the curtains and peered outside, the driveway empty.

 _'They're not home yet...'_ she pondered.

She unlocked her window and opened it slowly, allowing the cool summer breeze into the stifling warm room.The wind brushed past her and blew open the curtains. Tarin was about to move away from the window when chatter resonated from the streets below, closer to her window. Below on the empty streets of the town were a trio of kids; A female redhead, a dirty blonde haired male, and a certain silver haired male. Her eyes widened.

 _'What the hell are they doing here?'_

She quietly watched them, listening intently.

"I'm telling you, this is getting us nowhere." Riku sighed.

About four hours ago, Sora had convinced his mother that he needed more help studying and that staying at Riku's house was a way to help under the notion that he was serious about finishing school with high honors. Kairi had convinced her father with the same lie, saying that she was staying at Selphie's. The true plan, however, was to stay at Riku's house for the night, after they investigate the scene of the falling star. After 4 hours of searching, they had finally found the impact site. Sora held the saffron colored star from earlier in his left hand while now holding an identical shaped star charm in his right; the colors were shamrock green that lightened up to yellow at the tips. In the middle was an oddly shaped heart. Sora compared both of the stars in his hands, his gaze switching between the two.

"Now there's two stars..." he sighed. Riku glanced over his shoulder and into the blonde's hands.

"What do they mean, though?" he sighed. He glanced around the neighborhood with a stagnant frown. The entire town was quiet, what with it being midnight and such. It was a peaceful, yet unsettlingly quiet.

"We don't have enough to go on. Maybe we should ask the king?" Kairi questioned. The group thought to themselves before ultimately nodded their heads in confirmation.

"We'll find a way to do that later, but for now, we have to figure out how to understand what this means. So let's get back to my house." the silverette concluded. As the three picked the pace up, Riku's attention was caught by long flowing red curtains. There was an open window of a blue two story house and a girl standing in said window, with black and blue hair. His eyes widened.

"Hey, what street are we on?" the flustered male asked, his aquamarine eyes latched onto the girl. Sora and Kairi both glanced at each other.

"Schenect." they said in unison.

 _'So she lives on this street...'_

"Um Riku, are you ok?" Sora asked, worry settling in his face. Riku's unfaltering gaze lightened up as he looked back to his friends.

"Yeah...let's hurry."

Riku sat at his desk, glaring at Tarin's back. The class started as usual, what with Selphie's constant screeching about how cool the transfer student looks, and the entire class saying the same thing. The exception was Kairi, Sora and Riku. They remained to themselves that morning, even though they all left Riku's house early.

Tarin, on the other hand, had noticed that the silverette had found interest in her. She felt as she did the day before; under the microscope of the class constantly being supervised. But today, he was actually glaring at her. She felt her chest clench and tighten up. Anxiety was setting in but just before she could get to politely ask if she could visit the nurse's office, the instructor had closed her book, pulling the classes attention.

"Alright. We'll answer one more question and then I'll dismiss you to Physical Education." the brunette woman smiled. She side stepped the board and pointed to the problem; a parallelogram with numbers on it. "The parallelogram shown in the figure on the board has a perimeter of 44 cm and an area of 64 cm squared. Mr. Harada, can you come up to the board and find angle T in degrees?"

Riku's, completely unfazed by the question, stood up and walked up to the board. Tarin watched the boy carefully as she clutched her chest in relief. The attention was no longer on her as Riku solved the problem with ease. Her relief was short lived, however, when she noticed that he was already done. He placed the chalk down on the board and stood to the side to admire his work.

2(3x + 2) + 2(5x + 4)  
x = 2

= 64 / 14 = 32/7 cm  
sin(T) = (32/7) / 8 = 32/56 = 4/7

T = arcsin(4/7) = 34.8 Degrees

"Excellent work, Mr. Harada. I'll explain what he wrote."

Riku bowed to the teacher and walked back to his seat, all the while glaring at Tarin. Her eyes caught his in a four second staring contest where his eyes, even though they were a cool aquamarine, almost glowed with an angry blue. Her forest green eyes widened and heart almost stopped.

 _'Those eyes...I've seen them before...'_

He passed by the black haired girl and sat in his seat. "And with that, I conclude this lesson. I'll leave the rest to the class representative. Have a good weekend." the instructor said with a bright smile as she erased the board. Suddenly, Selphie stood up and skipped up to the teacher's podium.

"ALRIGHT. GOOD MORNING EVERYONE!" the overly cheerful girl started. "I'm going to politely ask all gentleman to proceed into the classroom across the hall so we all can change for P.E."

The chattering began once the girl stopped talking. Chairs moved as did the males, exiting the room as Selphie had instructed. Once all boys had left the room, the doors were closed and the girls had started to take off their clothes, changing into their gym clothes. Tarin stood up from her seat and walked over to her cubby, undoing her tie. She barely listened to the various conversations going on in the class. She unbuttoned her shirt and took it off, earning her a series of soft gasps. They were watching her again. Tarin's bust size wasn't something to laugh at; not many girls in the room were any bigger than a C-cup and considering that her cup size was a D-cup, she was ultimately bound to have a few lookers. Quickly, she grabbed her gym shirt and pulled it over her head, allowing it to fall at her waist. She pulled her skirt down and pulled on her sky blue bloomers. She felt as though she looked silly, like an underclothed child. After folding up her clothes and placing them in her bag, she grabbed a hair tie from her bag, tying her long ebony tresses into a high ponytail. Tarin allowed her side bangs to fall over her shoulders and didn't feel the need to pin them back. She wanted to quickly walk out the classroom to avoid all the stares. But as the faculty had told her on the first day, she had to wait for everyone to finish changing and then proceed to the field. The longest five minutes of her life.

Outside, the sky was clear, with only a few clouds in sight. There was a light breeze and quite a lot of sunlight; the perfect day for having class outside. Once the entire class walked onto the field and sat on the bleachers, a tall man with spiky cut dark maroon hair walked out from the building. He wore a matching green and black tracksuit with regular white sneakers. "Morning, you lazy turds. Today, you're running. Like usual." he said with an evil smirk. The entire class groaned. Tidus raised his hand and spoke up.

"But we ran last class, Ikuso!" he whined. The instructor sneered at the male.

"I don't give a damn! You'll keep running until you drop! And because you decided to complain Mr. Allistar, you'll be running laps all period!" Tarin glanced over to the male and watched his expression turn sour. In fact, everyone's expression was on the sour side. She concluded that this teacher wasn't the most loved. "Alright, It's safe to assume that all of you are here cuz if you miss my class, I'll find out and have you run more laps. So I won't take attendance. That'll give us more time for P.E. Pay attention, cuz I'm only gonna say this once! Today's objective is to beat your records from last class. If you manage to beat it, I'll allow you to sit out for the rest of the class. If you can't beat it, you'll be joining Mr. Allistar. Now, ladies first."

All girls stood up on the bleachers and began to walk down, half of them wore looks of determination. The other half were unsure. Tarin followed the group and sat at the bottom of the bleachers, glancing around the field. She sighed and waited for her name to be called. As she watched the girls go in a single lap, the blackette found herself pulling at her side bangs, examining the length.

' _Should I cut my hair? It's really growing longer than I would like it to be…'_ she pondered quietly. Suddenly, she felt a hand tap her shoulder. She stiffened up slightly as she turned her head. Red hair caught her vision as the girl stood next to her.

"May I sit here?" Kairi asked with a smile. Tarin stared at her for a moment before she sighed and nodded, gazing out to the field. The redhead quickly sat down. There was a moment of silence that was stifling, before the blackette spoke up.

"Tachibana, right?" Tarin said. Kairi looked at her and nodded happily.

"Yeah. That's right."

Another silent moment.

"Forgive me; I'm not good with names. I might accidently forget, so try not to feel offended." Tarin said apathetically.

"I won't. I was just wondering if maybe you wan-"

"Tachibana! Let's go!" Ikuso screamed. It caught both of the girls off guard and caught their attention at the same time.

Kairi sighed and stood. "Never mind..."

"Just tell me later." Tarin sighed. Kairi looked back at the girl, surprised. Tarin, however, just rolled her eyes. "We're in the same class, so it's not like you won't be able to fine me. You can ask me whatever it is you want to ask me later." The girl stood there for a moment before nodding and quickly running over to the field. The blackette gave a sigh of relief for finally being alone. She relaxed and closed her eyes for a moment, only focusing on the air around her. She listened to the chattering of students and the ungraceful stomping of feet on the track. It was safe behind her eyelids; what with the feeling of no one invading her personal space. That was until the pattering stopped a few minutes later. She opened her forest green eyes and looked out to the track, Kairi had finished her lap but didn't make it past her old time, ultimately joining the growing group of girls in running laps. Ikuso glanced over at Tarin.

"Let's see...ah yes the transfer student. You're not on my roster yet, so what's your name?" he shouted over to her. She stood up and walked over to him, stopping in front of him.

"Gessekai Tarin." she said simply. He pulled out a pen and began to write on a piece of paper.

"Moonworld, huh? Interesting...anyways, you're up. And since this is your first day of MY gym class, you'll run twice today. Once right now, and a second time after the boys go. I need a time for you to beat." the man finished, pointing to the makeshift starting line. She quickly moved to the line and stood there, waiting for the other four girls to get to the area. Once they stood with her on the line, she waited for the man to get his stopwatch ready.

"Alright, on your marks."

Tarin took a deep breath in, calming her nerves. This wasn't something to get worked up about, but for some reason she felt obligated to set a nice record.

"Get set."

She exhaled slowly and balled her hands into fists. She was ready.

"GO!"

And without a second thought, she took off. The girls that stood with her on the line was suddenly a good time behind her, and the gap was growing by the second. Tarin felt a sharp pain attack her heart halfway through but didn't allow it to stop her progress. She _wouldn't_ allow it to stop her. As she made quick work of the lap, she slowed to a stop by the teacher, panting heavily for all the breath she lost. She rested her palms on her knees, trying to breathe.

"Gessekai, you made an impressive time of 46.3 seconds, the fastest for the girls." Ikuso smirked. Tarin slowly made her way to the bottom bleachers and sat down, breathing deeply. The murmurs of the students had gotten louder. One of the male students said that she was absolutely amazing. But Tarin could only focus on her chest. The pain was torturous, but she managed to hold back the need to vomit. Once the other girls made it to the line, the teacher had instructed all the boys to meet at the bottom of the field. Tarin sat back and clutched her chest. The pain had increased at a moments notice and was suddenly worsening.

 _'Dammit...this is bad...'_ she yelled in her head.

The blackette was able to sit down for a few minutes, but she was completely dreading that second run. She wasn't sure if she was up to it, but her pride was too strong. Tarin nodded in silent confirmation. She was going to run regardless of her current condition.

But she would be lying if she said that she wasn't about to regret it. The blackette watched wave after wave of boys run and either succeed or fail. She had to admit, at least the Allistar kid wasn't alone anymore. But the moment she was caught off guard, she heard a couple of familiar names.

"Harada, Yamamoto, get down here!" Ikuso shouted to the bleachers. After a duo of groans, Sora and Riku both walked down to the field, standing side by side. "And...let's see...Gessekai! Round two!"

 _'Oh shit...'_ she shouted in her head. She slowly stood up and walked over to the small group. The entire class watched carefully at them and didn't dare utter a sound. Even substantial group of kids forced to run laps stood still and watched. Although Tarin wished they continued as they were. She glared at the man with razor blades for eyes.

"What's with the face? I told you you'll be running again!" he cackled loudly. "So here's the deal. There aren't anymore boys that can run with you two so she's gonna run with you. You three aren't racing each other. You're racing the damn clock. And Gessekai." Ikuso paused. "The same rules still apply. You lose time, you'll be joining the lap group next class. So actually try. Alright, on the line!"

Sora and Riku both casually walked to the starting line, with Tarin right behind them. She stopped between the boys, one of which were tying his sneakers tighter. The pain in the girl's chest did not subside for a moment as she braced herself for the inevitable. She took in a deep breath for the second time that period.

"Hey Riku. We should continue that bet from yesterday since we actually got someone to watch and time." Sora smiled, stretching his arms over his head. Riku tilted his head, piqued at his proposal.

"I don't see why not..." He smirked.

"On your marks."

"Get set."

She exhaled.

"GO!"

The three of them took off from the line together, all in time with each other. With each passing second they were together, completely synchronized. Until Sora began to burst ahead. Riku smirked and passed the both of them with ease, and considering that since Tarin had ran earlier that day, her exhaustion level was pretty high.

Or so he thought.

Tarin gained a final burst of energy to pass the both of them and put a good distance between them, at the expense of her health. The pain in her chest was completely unbearable at this point, but she persevered. In a matter of seconds, the three of them crossed the finish line. A great shower of cheers came from the bleachers and field as their fellow classmates celebrated the race with happiness. Sora had fallen onto the ground with a soft thud and Riku stood doubled over, both completely out of breath. Tarin was panting heavily, palms once again on her knees and sweating profusely. Her legs shook slightly and her eyesight played tricks with her. Ikuso clapped.

"Bravo, you turds. You actually did really well."

"What was...our time?" Sora asked through the panting. The teacher flipped through the clipboard in his hand to write something down. Then he cleared his throat.

"Yamamoto, your time was 34.9 seconds. Harada, you had 35.4 seconds. You both beat your times from last class." Then he glanced over the the girl. "Ms. Gessekai, you are absolutely impressive. You beat your record and on the first day too. 32.2 seconds." The boys stared at her as she wiped sweat off her forehead. The class began to murmur and whisper all over again.

"Your stamina is incredible." Riku commended the girl.

Tarin clutched her chest. "You're not so bad yourself."

"My fucking ribs!" Sora shouted as he collapsed onto the ground miserably.

"Let this be a lesson to you tweeds!" Ikuso shouted to the bleachers. "Those that work hard will persevere. DISMISSED!"

Suddenly, the entire class flew down from the bleachers and track, some complaining about lesson, others complaining about everything else. Kairi stood by the gate of the field and waited patiently for her friends. Riku pulled Sora up to a standing position and walked over to the redhead. Tarin, whose body should have been rendered immobile, carefully walked to the gate as well. She walked past the group, but was caught by a soft voice. "Um..." Without flinching, she slowly turned her head to the redhead. By now, her annoying voice was already committed to the blackette's memory.

"...What did you want to ask...?" Tarin said carefully. Kairi looked uneasy as she stared at her classmate.

"Lunch time is next...so would you like some company?"

The girl thought about it for a moment and sighed. "...Fine..."

Kairi smiled brightly. "Ah great! We'll be on the roof then."

The blackette nodded and began to walk inside the building. A few minutes later, the trio walked in too.

"So she actually said yes...you must be excited, huh Kairi?" Sora sighed. The redhead nodded happily.

"I am! I can't stand it when people eat alone."

"Well at least you'll have another friend." Riku said.

"Whatever happened to a friend of yours is a friend of ours?" she pouted.

Riku crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. "Don't know her like that yet."

"Well whatever. I'm going to go change." Kairi shrugged and dashed off towards the classroom. "Meet me upstairs!" she called back to them before she disappeared, leaving the boys behind. With a small frown, Riku glanced back to Sora, who was still panting lightly.

' _What would you do if I suddenly went missing?'_

"Sora."

"Yeah?" Sora muttered.

"Back in Traverse Town last year, when we found each other after this entire thing began, I wanted to apologize. You invited me along to find and save Kairi, but I was selfish. I thought that you were just acting like a child and had forgotten about us. I fell into darkness so fast...and I can't forgive myself for that."

Sora stood up straight and carefully listened to the boy, his eyes never leaving the silverette's form. "I put you through hell in the past two years. You waited for me to get my shit together for two years. And you still went looking for me."

"Riku…" the blonde started.

"Just let me get this out...I wanted to ask you to forgive me; for everything. I now completely regret not coming with you, Donald, and Goofy that day. Even during the Mark of Mastery exam, I felt as though I couldn't help you as much I should've. Sora Yamamoto, if you went missing, I would fucking go after you and I would go in a heartbeat."

Sora blinked for a moment before a bright smile lifted his cheeks. "I'm happy to hear that. But I forgave you back then." Riku stood quietly, mouth slightly agape.

"You...you did?"

"Yeah. I mean you're my best friend! I would've forgiven you a long time ago if I weren't so pigheaded. C'mon. We should get go changed." Sora smiled and walked past the silverette, patting his shoulder. All Riku could do stare at the boy's back as he walked away.

"You...really are a moron…"

 _'Your stamina is incredible.'_

"He just sounds so familiar to me..." She muttered to herself. Since the last lap of physical education, Tarin had quickly changed her clothes and went to the restroom where tried her best to regain control her breathing. Once she regained a good portion of it, the blackette then grabbed her lunch and made up to the roof without any physical incidents. She leaned against the gate with a sigh. Her chest was still hurting though, so she couldn't do anymore strenuous activities. And so far, merely walking around was proving to be an issue. She closed her eyes, focusing on her on breathing. It was difficult, yes, but not impossible to keep it from bothering her. However, it was still a challenge.

 _'If this keeps up, I'll have to visit the hospital...'_

"Did you wait long?"

Tarin opened her eyes to the redhead and her friends standing before her. "No. I just got here myself." she lied. They sat down at the bench next to her. The silence was completely awkward for the first ten minutes, but Tarin appreciated it somewhat. It means less of a hassle trying to breathe. Sora looked at though he wanted to speak, though. So against all good nature, she spoke.

"You have a question, Yamamoto-san." the girl implied. Sora jumped a bit, but nodded.

"Yeah...I did." He said hesitantly.

"What is it?"

"Well, how do you like it here so far?"

Tarin through for a moment before answering. "It's quieter than the mainland, so I suppose it like it."

"What's the mainland like?" Kairi asked, curiosity piqued.

"It's busier than this little place. There's too many people." she answered honestly.

"Well, here everybody knows each other. It gets kind of boring." Riku sighed.

"I'd rather be with people I know than a stranger who won't give me a sideways glance if I need help." Tarin said.

Riku thought for a moment before talking again. "Touché." The silence set in again as the group continued to eat their food. Tarin, however had lost her appetite.

"...I...would like to apologize..." she started, catching the trio's attention. She ran a hand through her cobalt blue and black bangs, revealing those deep forest green eyes. Riku caught a glimpse and froze. "Yesterday, I was...a bit unbearable to the say the least...I'm not...the most successful people person...mostly because I keep to myself quite often..." she trailed off. Kairi smiled at the girl.

"It happens." she replied.

"Are you sure...?"

"Yeah! Hakuna Matata!" the blonde smiled.

"Excuse me?" Tarin said.

"Oh! Uh...it's a phrase that some friends of mine always says to me. Hakuna matata means no worries." Sora chuckled.

"I understand..." Tarin said, smiling softly. All three of them stared at the girl. She stared back, confused. "What? Is there something on my face?" she asked.

Riku blinked.

"Yeah...a smile."


End file.
